As customers move toward mobile banking, is an online-only and branch-less bank the bank of the future?

Bank of Internet's CEO Gregory Garrabrants told an audience at an investing conference in San Diego last week that his bank, with roughly $2.4 billion in assets, can compete with its larger rivals because it's not weighed down by real estate costs and has a lean staff.

Garrabrants, speaking at Stocktoberfest, a conference run by social MORE

Major Wall Street banks shut their doors Monday and said they'd waive certain fees, as Hurricane Sandy barrels toward the East Coast.

Citigroup (C) shuttered all of its branches in Manhattan and said only a handful of branches in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Connecticut and Delaware would remain operational Monday. The bank's branches in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia were all open for business Monday.

Wells Fargo posted a record profit of $4.9 billion for the third quarter as mortgage lending picked up, but weaker-than-expected revenue left investors disappointed.

The nation's largest mortgage lender said it originated $139 billion of mortgages during the third quarter, up 6% from a year earlier, as record low interest rates drove homeowners to refinance. But the low rates also weighed on the interest income that Wells Fargo earns on its loans and MORE

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

It's been a great year for bank stocks. The KBW Bank Index (BKX) has surged more than 30%, easily outperforming the broader market. And Bank of America (BAC) is up nearly 70%, making it by far MORE

Bond king Bill Gross says it's time for individual investors to get used to a new (and slower) dance.

In his monthly investment outlook letter, the founder of Pimco and manager of the world's largest bond fund, Pimco Total Return Fund (PTTRX), wrote that the age of credit expansion that led to double-digit portfolio returns is over, and the age of inflation has begun.

The market was mostly lower on yet another sleepy August day of trading. But bank stocks were among the more notable standouts. Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) were two of the better performers in the Dow. Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs (GS) were each up more than 1.5% And Citigroup (C) had gained more than 2%.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

Happy days are here again for the stock market. If you love round numbers, then today is your day. The Dow is back above 13,000. Nasdaq has vaulted above 3,000 again. And the S&P 500 has MORE

It's a good thing that Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) still do some good, old-fashioned retail banking. The Wall Street business stinks.

Citi reported a better-than-expected second quarter profit Monday -- despite year-over-year declines in investment banking as well as equity and fixed income trading. Shares were up on the news, following a nearly 5.5% pop for Citi on Friday on the back of JPMorgan's kitchen sink MORE